Music Of The American Indian Northwest Puget Sound

MUSIC OF

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NORTHWEST [Puget

780.973 RVfa 59-15521

Rhodes

Misic of the American Indian*

Library of Congress

Music Division Recording Laboratory

Archives of American Folksong

FOREWORD

For a number of years the Bureau of Indian Affairs has spon-
sored the recording of typical Indian music throughout the United
States. During this time approximately 1,000 Indian songs have been
recorded by Mr. Willard Rhodes, Professor of Music at Columbia Uni-
versity. The study originated in an effort to determine the extent to
which new musical themes were continuing to develop. Studies have
shown that in areas of Indian concentration, especially in the South-
west, the old ceremonial songs are still used in the traditional fashion.
In the Indian areas where assimilation has been greater Indian-type
music is still exceedingly popular. There is considerable creative activ-
ity in the development of new secular songs which are used for social
gatherings. These songs pass from reservation to reservation with
slight change.

While the preservation of Indian music through recordings con-^
tributes only a small part to the total understanding of American In-v
dians, it is nevertheless an important key to this understanding. It is
with this thought that these records have been made available
through cooperative arrangements with the Music Division of the
Library of Congress.

Secretary of the Interior

Vantouvt*

CANADA; * s

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*'""'

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WASHINGTON

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Map of Western Washington (Puget Sound and Olympic Peninsula)

Songs on the record are from:

Swinomish

Lummi

Skokomish

Makah

Quinault

BACKGROUND FOR THE INDIAN MUSIC
OF WESTERN WASHINGTON

by Erna Gunther

Professor of Anthropology
University of Washington

The region from which the music in this album comes, is not a
large one in the American landscape, since it includes only the west-
ern part of Washington with a slight extension into southern British
Columbia. From the point of view of Indian life, it is the southern
margin of one of the great cultural developments in native America,
namely the Northwest Coast, a region generally defined as reaching
from southeastern Alaska to either the Columbia River or to north-
western California. Since the area covered here is small and compact,
a more exact definition is advisable. In western Washington, between
the Cascade Mountains and the ocean, there were many villages of
Indians, all of whom obtained their living from the forest and the sea
in varying proportions according to their specific location. On the ba-
sis of these proportions, anthropologists have divided the region longi-
tudinally into three broad strips, running from the Canadian bor-
der to the Columbia River. The central area includes Admiralty Inlet,
Puget Sound and the lower stretches of the many rivers emptying into
the Sound. Villages here were located along the beaches and around
the mouths of rivers and creeks. The inhabitants used shellfish like
clams and geoducks, and gathered many roots, bulbs, and berries
from the forest and the occasional open meadow. Many families
owned fishing sites part way up the rivers where they went seasonally
for salmon runs. The eastern strip, in the foothills of the Cascades,
gave a more restricted life and movement to the villagers who lived
permanently up the longer rivers, like the Skagit and Nooksack. They
subsisted largely on salmon, but^supplemented it with more game than
the Sound people and were compelled to go down the rivers to trade
for dried Clams and other salt water delicacies. They were looked upon
by their Sound neighbors as the "country cousins" and in the Chinook
jargon, a trade language, were referred to as "Stick Indians."

To the west of Puget Sound is the great Olympic Peninsula with
its Pacific Ocean front as well as the southern shore of the Strait of
Juan de Fuca f Here lived, among others, the Quinault, the Quileute,
and the Makah, who were truly maritime people. They also fished for
salmon, but made extensive use of halibut as well, However, much

more dramatic was their courageous pursuit of seals and whales. Out-
standing in this enterprise were the Makah at Neah Bay who, like the
other Nootkan-speaking people of the west coast of Vancouver Island
made a ritual of whale hunting and esteemed the whale hunter above
all others in the community. These people hunted land animals less
than the other groups, but still made use of an abundance of wild
vegetable foods in their immediate environment.

There were many features of living which all these people
shared. The unit socially and politically was the village and even
through a number of villages often spoke the same dialect and for that
reason have been loosely referred to in the literature as tribes, such a
political structure hardly existed. These villages consisted of a num-
ber of fairly large cedar plank houses, rarely more than 20, with each
house containing from two to ten families. A house was generally
built by several related men, like brothers or cousins and each
claimed ownership to a section. The houses were constructed on a
framework of upright posts with crossbeams to support the roof. The
cedar planks were set in loosely between the posts. The Indians of this
part of the Northwest Coast did not make totem poles, but instead,
the owner of each section of the house would carve the posts of his
area with figures representing his guardian spirit. This carving was
usually in low relief, augmented with painting in red, black, and
white. The section inhabited by each family was screened off by cat-
tail mats that hung down from the roof. When a large gathering was
expected these mats were removed, making a great hall of the entire
house. There was a passage down the center of the house where the
fires were kept for cooking and where great fires blazed during
ceremonials.

Travel was very important in Indian life and throughout this
area was generally done by canoe. Whether the family was going to
one of its fishing sites, or to a ceremonial gathering in another vil-
lage, the necessary clothing, equipment, children, and dogs were piled
into canoes, ranging from 30 to 60 feet in length. If the journey was a
long one the company would beach the canoe at dusk and camp, often
sleeping under the overturned craft. These canoes matched the out-
rigger boats of the Polynesians for seaworthiness and carried Indians
long distances for visits, friendly or otherwise, including slave raids.
In the second half of the 19th century they used them for transporta-
tion from the Queen Charlotte Islands to the hop fields of Washing-
ton where the Indians worked as pickers. The canoes were always
made of a single log, but in many sizes, cfnd were designed for many
purposes. The large ones just mentioned were for travelling and had
high prows that cut through the waves, Shovel-nosed canoes with flat

bows and sterns were used in the rivers. Small canoes, pointed at both
ends, were good for fishing and duck hunting.

Since paddling can be a very rhythmical motion, it is to be ex-
pected that the extensive use of the canoe would present occasions for
canoe songs. There are a few to be found, but not in great numbers,
probably because the stern waters of the Northwest Coast rarely per-
mitted the leisurely attitude conducive to song. However, the early ex-
plorers all mentioned that the Indians, coming out to their ships to
trade, arrived singing.

The annual economic cycle was very closely bound to the cere-
monial and social pattern of activity. Since the food supply was avail-
able in the summer and fortunately consisted of many products that
could be preserved through drying, the Indians performed their major
tasks during that season, leaving them considerable leisure for other
activities in the winter. The ceremonial life here had three major mo-
tivations: the social activity necessary to gain and maintain social
prestige, the ceremonials involving the guardian spirit, and shaman-
istic performances. For all these occasions the people gathered in a
large house and included visitors from neighboring villages and even
distant places according to the importance of the host and the signif-
icance of the affair. Social activity depended upon the leadership of
the upper class in a society divided loosely into three groups: leaders,
common people, and slaves. Mobility between these classes was con-
siderable, except for slaves whose only possibility of social improve-
ment was through ransom by their own people, since they were
obtained by raids on distant villages. A person of good social standing
had to maintain his position through giving the proper feasts, as,
when his children received new names, each with greater social im-
portance; when a daughter arrived at puberty; when her hand was
sought in marriage; when the marriage took place; when a man him-
self took over an important name from a dead relative; and when
important funerals occurred. Some of these occasions have been gen-
erally called potlatches, but if one reserves that term for the involved
social and economic transactions of the north, these feasts are clearly
marginal forms. Social position was achieved by the generosity dis-
played on these occasions, both in the amount and kind of food set
before guests, the amount of property given away, and perhaps de-
stroyed at funerals, and by the extent of the entertainment provided.

Perhaps reconstructing here the procedure of a typical gather-
ing will show the place of music in the ceremonial life of western
Washington. When the guests arrived from another village by canoe,
they always landed in a little cove near their destination and dressed

in ceremonial clothes and painted themselves. To make a spectacular
entry into the host's village, often two canoes were lashed together
with a platform between them, on which dancers stood ready to per-
form when they were close enough to be easily seen. The songs qnd
dances used on such an occasion were the property of the head of the
family. The arriving guests were greeted by the host and his family,
also ceremonially dressed, and a welcome song with a slow stately
dance was performed on the beach. The guests were then led into the
ceremonial house where they were assigned space according to their

social position; the
farther their position
from the door, the
higher their rank. As
the guests assembled
and waited for the
meal to be served,
individuals would
spontaneously sing
any song that be-
longed to them, as
for instance the
Chinook songs of
Henry Allen. Such
songs have no seri-
ous implications and
Along the Coast of Western Washington Qre pure|y for enfer _

tainment, yet nobody sings a number to which he or his family does
not have a right, either through inheritance or purchase. At meal
time songs of thanks were often sung to the host. After the meal, if
the occasion was for one night only the business of the gathering
would begin, but if the assemblage was to stay for several days, a
gambling game might be organized. In western Washington this was
generally the "bone game", the object being for one side to guess in
which hand an opposing player held the unmarked one of two tubular
bones. The two sides sat behind parallel planks of wood and beat time
on them with short sticks as they sang. Only the hiding side sang.
Gambling songs belonged to well known players, but older ones whose
ownership had been forgotten were freely sung by all. The game was
universal in the Northwest and many songs had words in Chinook jar-
gon since that was understood more widely than any local language.
This game is still played at local Indian gatherings today and new
songs are often composed and added to the repertoire.

During the winter the social gatherings gave way to the more
serious occasions of guardian spirit dancing. In this region, religion

was extremely individual, for each person went out at adolescence to
acquire, through fasting and vigil, the help of a spirit who came to
him in a vision. This spirit gave the devotee the ability to be a good
hunter, gambler, basket maker, or any other socially-sanctioned activ-
ity. At this time, also, a song was heard and a dance seen. When the
young person returned successfully from such a vigil the older men in
the village helped him develop his song and arrange his dance in an
accepted pattern. Then during the next ceremonial season, when he
felt his spirit upon him again, he danced for the first time. To cele-
brate this occasion the young dancer's father had to give suitable
presents to all the important people who witnessed his son's perform-
ance. In this way his possession of his spirit was validated and at
succeeding ceremonial seasons he would dance if he was repossessed
by his spirit. If a person was possessed by a spirit and did not respond
by singing and dancing the power was strong enough to kill him. In
other words, singing and dancing here was a form of exorcism.

Whether the spirit dancing lasted for several days for each par-
ticipant as in former days, or is done in a single night as at present,
the procedure was the same. When a dancer felt his power coming to
him he groaned with agony, a signal for the drummers to gather
around him. As soon as he intoned his song, the leader picked it up
and they drummed the rhythm. When the dancer was ready he
jumped into the center of the floor with a great leap, and faced his
drummers while he sang a verse of the song. Then he turned and
danced counter-clockwise around the house, moving between the fires
in the center and the people sitting on the platforms along the walls.
Periodically he stopped, faced the drummers and sang another verse
and then continued on his way, making a circuit of the house, never
less than once, never more than four times. Formerly these posses-
sions were preceded by days of listlessness during which the family
prepared for the dancing to follow. It is interesting that now, when
so much of this culture has disappeared, this feature still remains in a
shortened and less spontaneous form, but in the last twenty years,
gaining rather than losing importance.

The individual character of these songs has frequently been
mentioned but it must be added that, in spite of this, everyone knew
many songs. However a song could be used only if the owner started it
or gave his permission for its use. A very old man, who could no longer
sing would pay a younger man to sing his song for him at a gathering.
If the people especially liked the song, many individuals would, in
turn, give the owner a present for having made it possible for them to
hear his song. Once a song was started, everyone would join in, and
the degree of participation indicated the social esteem in which the

8

owner was held. During a man's spirit dance his wife often walked
around in front of the audience and urged them to sing. Volume was
generally regarded as more important than quality in this type of
singing.

In the culture of former days, there were individuals who had
even stronger relations with spirits and more powerful and dangerous
ones. These people were shamans or medicine men, who used their
spiritual power to cure the sick, foretell the future, recover lost arti-
cles, and go to the land of the dead for departed souls. Their powers
were specific according to their spirit helpers and they could work for
harm as well as for good. They were generally people to be feared and
children were warned not to linger near a shaman's house. A medicine
man usually worked alone and came to a patient's house on call. He
would sing quietly to attract his spirit and then, with the help of the
onlookers' singing, dance and cure by means of massage or sucking
the afflicted part of the patient. Again, as soon as his song was in-
toned, everyone present joined in. Such a cure might last only a few
hours, but if the patient did not respond, it might go on for several
days. Shamanistic curings have been crowded out of the Indian life
of today by knowledge of modern medical practices and by missionary
preaching,, but there are still many older people who are minor sha-
mans or resort to a shaman for help.

As the power of the shaman diminished in Puget Sound villages,
a partial substitute for it developed. At the southern end of the
Sound, there began in 1882, one of the great religious movements so
frequent among the Indians in the latter part of the 19th century. A
Squaxin Indian, John Slocum, believed dead, came back to life and,
announcing that he had seen God, preached a revival istic type of re-
ligion, called in English the "Shakers." This name is derived from the
violent trembling indulged in during services and has no connection
with the Shaker cult of the eastern United States. The religion is com-
posed of features drawn from the guardian spirit cult, Catholicism
and Protestantism, both Christian religions having been familiar to
the Indians through missionaries for several decades. In addition to
Sunday services, the Shakers undertake to cure the sick, regarded as
afflicted, because of lack of faith or under the power of evil spirits.
They also hold special meetings to convert new members and hear
testimonials from "backsliders" who have rejoined the church. The
music of the church often has a vague resemblance to the Protestant
hymn which is historically correct. Since these people believe in direct
revelation as a guiding factor, the music is equally spontaneous, and
just as the guardian spirit songs vary within a definite range of pat-
tern, so this style is easily recognizable. A hymn is started by some-
one and taken up by the rest of the congregation, Singing in the

9

Shaker church is accompanied by bells rather than the drum. In the
curing service the members move around the patient with a stamping
step which increases in tempo until the leader breaks it and brings it
down to a slower beat. In the Sunday service the same step is used in
parading around the church, but it does not become so violent.

The activity of this church is written in the present because it
still exists and while its numbers are not great, it has spread from
Puget Sound up the east coast of Vancouver Island and southward to
Hupa in California. Inroads have been made on its membership by
modern evangelical cults like the Pentecostal Mission and the Assem-
bly of God, but a strong leader can still get a following, and even in
the summer count among his congregation some who dance guardian
spirit dances during the winter ceremonial season.

The Shaker interest in curing the sick was a characteristic of
Northwest culture where the shaman's gifts tapered off among the
lay people in the ability to effect minor cures. Among the Makah, the
Nootkan-speaking relatives of the tribes on the west coast of Van-
couver Island, lay curing was organized into a society. In the region
from which the songs in this album come, one of the features which
marks the culture as a marginal form of the Northwest Coqst was the
occasional presence of a very weak form of the secret society. The
Makah had this trait in the Wolf Ritual and in a poorly defined soci-
ety which was less exclusive and admitted practically everyone who
cared to join. This was called the "Tsaiyak." Its members were on call
to sing for the sick, as an aid to recovery, but not replacing the sha-
man. They expected no pay for this, but any household they visited
would feed them during their services. The songs were described as
soothing and encouraging so that the society was often called upon
by families where a member suffered from "depression."

The individual songs in the album like the love songs and the
lullaby were also personal property, inherited from relatives or some-
times bought. Another person's song was never publicly used without
arrangement and compensation. In this type of singing, quality of
voice was important in contrast to the standard of volume in spirit
singing. Singers have been described as having "too rough" a voice
for love songs. Today love songs are more often sung for recordings
by women, perhaps because men 'are bashful about them, but that
was not the pattern in the former culture.

From these brief notes it is apparent that singing had an im-
portant function in the culture of the Northwest. There is evidence
from early explorers, the Spaniards, 1774, Cook, 1778 and Vancouver,
1792, that there has been little change in the type of music or in the

10

Makah Tsaiyak
Society Headdress

Below:

Makah rattle in

shape of grouse

occasions that demand it for the last 150 years of this culture. As in
many other places songs have disappeared with their singers, but it is
encouraging to find among the Indians a renewed interest in their
music. At guardian spirit dances there are young people participating
and the bone games stimulate new songs on many reservations. And
when recordings are made, no one is more eager to hear them than
the Indians themselves,

11

INTRODUCTION TO

NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN MUSIC

by Wi I lard Rhodes

Professor of Music
Columbia University

The music lover who is listening to Indian music for the first
time is apt to be perplexed by his novel experience. He may protest
that "it all sounds alike/ 7 that "they only have one tune/ 7 and in all
seriousness finally ask, 77 but is it music? 77 Such honest reactions are
not uncommon among the uninitiated. They are normal human re-
sponses to the unfamiliar and are not peculiarly related to Indian
music. Similar questions have been raised about the art work of our
best contemporary composers, artists, writers, and architects by those
who are unable to view the new art in its social setting and to see it in
its historic relationship with the past. Persons who would know more
about the /7 first Americans/ 7 with whom our past three and a half
centuries of history is so intimately connected, will find in Indian mu-
sic a full, expressive revelation of the inner life of this interesting
people.

For the Indian, music is a medium of communication and con-
tact with the supernatural, and since all life and its varied activities
find their respective places in the Indian 7 s cosmos, there are songs for
every occasion. The hard and fast distinction between sacred and sec-
ular, which we are accustomed to make loses its definiteness in the
Indian 7 s world. There are songs for the making of rain, guardian spirit
songs for success in hunting, fishing, and gambling, songs for the
pr9tection of the home, the curing of the sick, lullabies, love songs,
corn-grinding songs, social dance songs, and songs connected with leg-
ends. From this brief, functional listing, it will be noted that music was
closely associated with the daily and seasonal activities of living.
Though the Indian is not lacking in aesthetic enjoyment of his native
music, he rarely regards it as something to listen to apart from its
social and ceremonial function.

For the open-minded, open-eared listener, Indian music is nei-
ther inaccessible nor difficult to enjoy. Patient and repeated hearings
of these songs will gradually reveal the subtle, haunting beauty that
is enfolded in their carefully modelled forms. Here one will find the
same artistic features color, symmetry and balance of form, bold,
striking designs, logical unity and coherence of thought that distin-
guish Indian painting, pottery, weaving, and silversmithing, so widely
admired and enjoyed. Like the music of the Greeks and folk music in
its purest, primeval form, Indian music is basically monophonic,

12

single-lined. There are occasional excursions into heterophony where-
by one voice or group of voices temporarily deviates from the melodic
line of the song while others adhere to the established pattern. Such
examples of part singing, however, are relatively rare. The simplicity
of this monophonic music may fall strangely on ears that have been
conditioned by the thick harmonic and contrapuntal texture, rich
orchestration, and massive volume of our Western European music.
Just as it becomes necessary to adjust one's aural perspective in turn-
ing from symphonic music to the more modest and economical medi-
um of chamber music/ so must one rescale one's listening to the di-
mensions of Indian music.

Indian music is predominantly vocal music. Drums, rattles, bells,
notched sticks, and other percussion instruments are frequently em-
ployed to supply a rhythmic accompaniment to the songs. Pitch-
producing instruments are limited to the musical bow in its various
forms, the single- or two-stringed violin, found among the Apache and
the Yakutat (a Tlingit tribe on the Northwest Coast, bordering on the
Eskimo), whistles, vertical open flutes, and flageolets. The Apache
violin and the Indian flutes seem to have been used exclusively for the
playing of love songs. Many of these instruments have become obso-
lete and are rarely found outside museums today.

The regularly recurring beat of the drum or other percussion in-
struments, which serves as a metric framework to so many Indian
songs, has often obscured the subtle and complex rhythms of the
vocal melodies they accompany. The listener's preoccupation with the
most obvious element of Indian music has given rise to the popular
belief that the music is principally rhythmic (referring, of course, to
the drum rhythm, not that of the song) and monotonous. A concen-
tration of attention on the melodic line of the songs will convince the
listener that the rhythmic element is no more important than the
tonal element, and that the songs, though repetitive, are not monot-
onous.

The question is often asked, "What scale do Indians use?" Ben-
jamin Ives Gilman, a pioneer student of Indian music, went so far as
to deny the Indian even a "sense of scale." He wrote, "What we have
in these melodies is the musical growths out of which scales are elab-
orated, and not compositions undertaken in conformity to norms of
interval order already fixed in the consciousness of the singers. In
this archaic stage of art, scales are not formed but forming." Later
George Herzog gave further elucidation on this subject in the follow-
ing statement; "The tones themselves are subject to more variation
than ours, depending upon the musical, textual, and emotional con-
text; especially since instruments with fixed pitches, which would

13

standardize musical pitch and intonation, do not play an important
role. Consequently, in musical transcriptions of such melodies a 'note'
does not stand for an objective unit, an ideally constant tone, but for
a functional unit, a mere average value around which the variations
cluster. The scale-schemes appended to the musical examples must
be understood in the same way/' There is no single scale, such as our
major or minor scale, to which Indian music can be related. A scale
is nothing more than an orderly arrangement of the tonal material
from which a melody is made. Different melodies employ different
sets or arrangements of tones. An analysis of a few Indian songs will
apprise the student of the great variety of scales which underlie Indi-
an music. Some simple melodies achieve a satisfying form and com-
pleteness with no more than two or three tones, in which cases we
would say that they are based on two- or three-tone scales. Pentatonic
scales in their various forms are fairly common in Indian music, but
they cannot be regarded as typically Indian since their distribution is
world wide. The Indian singer and maker of songs, like folk artists in
other mediums, and in other cultures, is not entirely unconscious of
what he does, but he apparently feels and expresses himself "with in-
stinctive more than with analytical mental processes."

Among Indians music making is generally the prerogative of the
men. There are, however, many instances in which the women join
in the singing with the men, as in the Guardian Spirit songs and Bone
Game songs of the Northwest, the Honoring songs of the Sioux, and
the Sun Dance songs of the Plains. Corn-grinding songs, lullabies, and
songs of a personal nature have furnished women with a limited, but
nonetheless satisfying repertoire for their musical expression. In the
Christian-influenced Indian Shaker religion of the Northwest and the
Christian religion as practiced by various Protestant sects in the
Southern Plains, women share with the men in the singing and "re-
ceiving" of songs. Some of the most beautiful hymns have been
"dreamed" by women.

The music lover and student will be amazed at the variety of ex-
pression which the native singer has achieved within the limited
framework of a monophonic music. Songs of similar social and cere-
monial function tend to assume a type pattern, but there is consider-
able range of variation within the type pattern. Even more impressive
are the differences of style that exist between the music of various
tribes and culture groups. American Indians have been falsely repre-
sented and synthesized by movies, fiction, and folklore, into the
American Indian, a composite type of human being that never lived.
The average person is unaware of the fact that there are some fifty in-
dian language stocks which are subdivided into many dialectic groups.

14

Nor is he apt to be informed of the cultural differences that give color
and character not only to culture areas but to individual groups with-
in an area. It is hoped that the music of this series of records will help
the listener to a better understanding of the North American Indians
as people and make him more appreciative of the wide range of cul-
tural variation which is so beautifully reflected in their music.

Indian music is a living expression of a vital people, not a relic
of the past of a dying race. The impact of the mechanized civilization
of the white man has effected culture changes which are mirrored in
Indian music. When old beliefs and ceremonies cease to function in
the life of a society, the songs associated with them tend to pass into
oblivion. But they are replaced by new songs which give truer repre-
sentation to current beliefs and practices. The Shaker songs of the
Northwest, the Peyote songs, so widely diffused throughout the
Plains, and the contemporary love songs used for social dances are
examples of the new music. These changes are lamented by purists,
predisposed to regard Indian culture in static terms and to believe the
old songs more beautiful than the new ones. Acculturation, that pro-
cess of change resulting from the contact of one culture with another,
is age old. It was operative among Indian groups in pre-Columbian
times, and the old music, like the culture of which it was a part, gives
evidence of such contacts. Today the process has been greatly accel-
erated by modern transportation and communication. Rodeos, fairs,
expositions, government boarding schools, and two World Wars have
brought into close contact for varying periods of time Indians of
diverse cultural backgrounds, geographically remote from one an-
other. In an attempt to give as true and complete an account of Indi-
an music as time and space will allow, examples of both the old and
the new music have been included in this series of records.

15

THE MUSIC OF THE NORTHWEST (Puget Sound)
by Willard Rhodes

Professor of Music
Columbia University

The music of this area shares with North American Indian music
a number of general traits which also occur in South America and
link Indian music with that of the Eskimo and the Paleo-Siberians in
Asia. But in addition there are localized features which set it apart in
style from much other North American Indian music. In a study of
Salish music George Herzog noted the following characteristics: "a
heavy proportion of melodies with comparatively small range; fre-
quency of wide jumps and of 'broken triad' formations; various intri-
cacies of rhythmic accompaniment in its relation to the voice, in-
cluding frequent syncopation; the importance of rigid percussion
instruments; preference for rhythms of three, also of five; a looseness
and flexibility of structural organization; dronelike usages represent-
ing modest germs of polyphony; and the role of women who are nearly
as active musicians as are men/ 7 Here one may also note the use of
half-tone steps and the rare intervals resulting from their presence
diminished fifth, augmented fourth or fifth which appear infre-
quently in Indian music. Though the singing technique for this area
has been identified as that found widely over the North American
continent, a comparison of the songs of this record with those of other
tribes and areas leads one to question the correctness of this view.
It is possible that a more detailed study of a large body of material
from this area will lead to the identification of a third type of Indian
singing, intermediate to the two types now generally recognized. In
relation to the musical style of the vast Northwest Coast, the music of
this limited area appears marginal. Herzog suggests that the longer,
more strictly organized melodies of the Northwest Coast appear as an
"elaboration imposed upon what may well have been a common,
or similar, simple base/'

16

The earliest account of the music of the Northwest is that of
Captain Cook in his Journal reporting his visit to Nootka Sound in
1778. Despite the tremendous changes that have taken place during
the past two centuries, many of Captain Cook's observations on Noot-
ka singing are still valid and have been confirmed by present day stu-
dents. Captain Cook's account follows:

These songs, which have been occasionally mentioned bear no little re-
semblance to those performed by the New Zealanders, the violent mo-
tions and hideous contortions of the limbs excepted, which these have
not. They seem also to sing them indifferently, whether disposed for war,
or peace; for they frequently entertained us with a song, evidently with
no other design than to please us, and we once saw two parties in ca-
noes, drawn up in order of battle facing each other, each singing in their
turn, and we expected every minute they would be by the ears together,
but at length they parted and the strangers returned from whence they
came. Not, if we understood them right, that they refused the challenge
that was given them, but declined it, or pretended to decline it on our ac-
count saying we would assist the other against them, so as it appeared
that we were the occasion of the quarrel, so on the other hand it ap-
peared that we were the means of preventing them from coming to blows,
oftener I believe, than this once, for our friends sometimes carried it
with rather a high hand over strangers who occasionally came to visit us.
But to return to their songs, those which they sing as a peaceable amuse-
ment are sometimes conducted by a man singer, dressed in a garment of
many colours, to which is hung deer hoofs, pieces of bone, etc., in such
a manner as to strike one against another at every motion of the body.
This man is masked and shakes in his hand a rattle, as do also some of
the others, and if they had any masks with them they generally put
them on and for want of which I have seen a fellow put his head into a
tin bottle he had got from us. These songs are always sung in concert,
generally by the whole company, at the same time some brandish their
weapons in the air, while others strike their paddles against the sides of
their boats with such exactness as to produce but a single sound, at the
divisions of their rnusic, each strain ends in a loud and deep sigh, uttered
in such a manner as to have a very pleasing effect.
The only implements of music, if such they may be called, I saw among
them was the rattle and a small pea-whistle about an inch long which
they put wholly into the mouth. To the rattle they sing, but on what oc-
casions they use the whistle I know not, unless it be when dress them-
selves like to and imitate outher animals, they make a noise like them
with this whistle as I once saw a man dressed in a wolfs skin with the
head on over his own and imitating that animal, made a squeaking noise
with the whistle, that I at first thought was done by some contrivance in

17

V<f

'3

3 >*

m

** * r^** ^ < <<: ^5 ^*^M- n "* J 5f * ^?'^4 J

{3 ul^ h4 ^S^ <->i$i HI^.^ J3^*,3 i
itffe

.'i^^^CS^,^

the animal's head. The rattles are for the most part made in the shape of
a bird, with a few pebble stones in the belly and the tail is the handle.
They have however others that bear rather more resemblance to a child's
rattle.

* A more recent account is that of James G. Swan, commenting on
the songs he heard at Neah Bay prior to 1869. Swan states:

'The songs of the Makah are in great variety, and vary from that of the
mother lulling her infant to sleep, to barbarous war cries and horribly
discordant 'medicine' refrains. Some of the tunes are sung in chorus . . .
They are good imitators and readily learn the songs of the white men,
particularly the popular negro melodies. Some of their best tunes are a
mixture of our popular airs with notes of their own, and of these they
sing several bars, and while one is expecting to hear them finish as
they began, they will suddenly change into a barbarous discord. Their
songs at ceremonials consist of a recitative and chorus, in which it would
be difficult for anyone to represent in musical character the wild, savage
sounds to which they give utterance. Some of the tribes sing the songs

that have been composed by other tribes Sometimes the young men

assemble in the evening and sing some simple air in chorus, the words
being generally improvised. They keep time with a drum or tambourine,
which is simply a skin stretched tightly over a hoop. These songs sound
very well and are melodious when compared to some of the other chants.
Many, both males and females, have good voices, and could be taught to
sing, but their own native songs have nothing to recommend them to

Below:

Tommy Bob and assistants holding Skwadelitch Boards

civilized ears. The words used are very few, seldom extending beyond
those of a single sentence, and generally not more than one or two,
which are repeated and sung by the hour. Sometimes they take the name
of an individual and repeat it over and over."

Swan's comments on the music of the Makah are especially in-
teresting for they call attention to the borrowing of songs from other
tribes and the process of musical acculturation, operative then in the
making of new songs as it is today.
SKAGIT GUARDIAN SPIRIT SONG

The activities of daily life in the Northwest were closely connec-
ted with spirit power. Since guardian spirits were individually acquired,
there was considerable variation in the source of the spirit and the
nature of its power. The Skagit Guardian Spirit Song (A-1) is the
personal power song of Tommy Bob and was "received" when he was
twelve years old. The name of this particular spirit power is skwade-
litch, and its special function is the guarding and watching of objects.
Ifmanifests itself through the animation of instruments, of which the
Skagit recognize four types. The type of instrument associated with

Below:

Ceremony with Skwadelitch Boards at the Smoke House at La
Conner, Washington, Treaty Day, January 22, 1946

this song is the power board (See photograph on page 19) which is
generally used in pairs. When the owner sings, the boards, each firmly
held by two men (See photograph on page 20), are animated by the
spirit which pulls the men about according to the song that is sung.

The psychical concentration and emotional absorption which ac-
companies the singing of guardian spirit songs is plainly evident in the
frenzied rendition of this song. At the conclusion of the recording of
the song Tommy Bob exclaimed, "I really go under the spirit when I'm
singing that/' An older Skagit, John Fornsby, in discussing guardian
spirit, explained, "Sometimes when I shook, when guarding power
came to me, my grandmother came and held me. I was singing there
and I could feel the power come into me like the wind/' (Collins,
June. "John Fornsby: The Personal Document of a Coast Salish Indi-
an," in Indians of the Urban Northwest, Marian Smith, editor. New
York, 1949, p. 317)

There are a number of musical features which contribute to the
interest of this song. The symmetry of the musical structure, with its
phrases and sections so nicely balanced and clearly articulated by the
two-tone cadential formula, is bound to impress the musically-mind-
ed listener. The first section is in the nature of a freely improvised
introduction, with considerable ornamentation of the long sustained
tones. The second section, in a livelier tempo, and with a regularly
recurring beat, provides a vivid contrast to the preceding section, at
the same time furnishing a rhythmic accompaniment for the spirit
dance. The concluding section, in a moderate tempo and triple meter,
is a rhythmic variation of the two-tone cadential motive. Since this
simple melodic cadence is derived from the introduction, the variation
based upon it serves as a coda while recapitulating the melodic mate-
rial of the opening section. These three sections form a well-rounded
musical form, ABA.

In the middle section of the song appear the only meaningful
words; gwadada gwachah (Now you speak). In dictating the text the
singer added, hetsatisidith (That is me), but these words, if sung on
the record, are not recognizable. Of special interest because of its
relatively rare occurrence in North American Indian music is the
musical phenomenon of heterophony, which may be observed in this
section of the song. While the principal singer or leader carries for-
ward the melody of the song, the women sustain a high monotone,
which produces a striking harmonic effect. This budding trend toward
part-singing has been noted by Frances Densmore among the Papago,
the Pawnee in their Morning Star Ceremony, and the Makah, Qui-
leute, and Clayquot of the Northwest. In addition to the examples of
heterophonic and harmonic singing on this record (A-l, A-5, B-6)

21

others have been recorded in the Stomp Dance songs of the Creek.
(Music of the American Indian, L-37, Delaware, Choctaw, Creek,
Cherokee)

Throughout the song there is a gradual mounting of pitch, some-
times effected within the framework of a structural section, other
times between sections, but almost always clearly articulated. The
second phrase of the introductory section, which is basically a varied
repetition of the first phrase, is pitched a half tone higher than its
prototype. The middle section of the song is further raised approxi-
mately a half tone. This constant climbing of pitch continues to the
end of the song when it cadences on a final tone one and a half steps
above the central, organizing tone of the first phrase. This gradual
mounting of pitch within a song may be an idiosyncracy of the individ-
ual singer, but inasmuch as it occurs consistently with various sing-
ers and has been noted elsewhere among the Coast Salish by Helen
Roberts, one is tempted to regard this phenomenon as one of the
stylistic features of the music of this area. Further studies will either
confirm or correct this assumption.

This song, sung by Tommy Bob, with the assistance of Mrs.
Tommy Bob, Mrs. Amelia Billie, and Mrs. Amelia Dan, was recorded
in the Bob home in La Conner, Washington, August 21, 1950.
Lummi Paddling Song

The countless miles of shore line and numerous waterways of the
Northwest made canoe transportation the natural medium of travel
for Indians of that area. Canoe trips were often accompanied by pad-
dling songs, sung in the manner described by Captain Cook in his
Journal reporting his visit to Nootka Sound in 1778. The Lummi Pad-
dling Song presented here is the property of the Frank Hillaire family
and is characteristic of the canoe songs owned by families for such oc-
casions. Sung by Joseph Hillaire, the song was recorded in the Library
of the Lummi Day School, Lummi Reservation, near Marietta, Wash-
ington, August 15, 1950. The regularly recurring rhythmic, move-
ments of paddling have doubtlessly influenced the rhythm of this tri-
ple metered melody. The descending, glissando exclamation at the
end of the song and after each of its repetitions is a signal to the pad-
dlers to shift their paddles to the opposite side of the canoe. The mel-
ody is based on a descending pentatonic scale, A, G, F, D, C, with an
auxiliary tone G sharp. It may be noted that the first repetition of the
song is pitched about a quarter tone above the first statement, the
second repetition, a full half one higher. The song is vocalized on the
following syllables:

o ho ho

o ho ho

o he he o

22

o ho ho ho

he yo he

a ho

a ho ho ho

he ya he

o hi o hi o hi

ho

The Story of the Rock and the Little Crabs

The folklore of the American Indian is rich in legends and
myths. The Story of the Rock and the Little Crabs, with its accom-
panying song and imitation of the waves, is typical of the legends
with which the Coast Salish entertained their children during the long
winter evenings. The story, told here by Joseph Hillaire, was recorded
in the Library of the Lummi Day School, Lummi Reservation, near
Marietta, Washington, August 16, 1950. Mr. Hillaire learned this
story from his mother who came from Fraser River.

'The story of the Rock and the Little Crabs that abound along
the shores of Puget Sound goes like this: The Rock was the Grand-
mother, and the Little Crabs that live under these rocks along the
shore line are her grandchildren. A great storm started to blow and
the waves beat upon the shore and Grandma Rock began to lament
because of the awful shock coming upon her head. And so she began
to sing, hoping that the wind and storm would abate.

wuthauwata, wuthauwata Now there is nothing more

wuthauwata, wuthauwata That 1 can do with my head.

nuslalenuxta

nuslaxheyasi

wuthauwata, wuthauwata

But the waves continued to beat, Oom, oom, oom! So she continued
to sing:

wuthauwata, wuthauwata Now there is nothing more

wuthauwata, wuthauwata That I can do with my head.

nuslalenuxta

nuslaxheyasi

wuthauwata, wuthauwata

'My dear little grandchildren, one of you should go up to the top of
my head and see if the storm is quieting/ So hurriedly the oldest one
of these Little Crabs hastened outside, out from under the Rock, and
started to climb. As he got about half way up on the side of the Rock
the waves struck him and knocked him down, and he came tumbling
in again. So Granny had to sing her song again.

wuthauwata, wuthauwata Now there is nothing more

wuthauwata, wuthauwata That I can do with my head.

nuslalenuxta

nuslaxheyasi

wuthauwata, wuthauwata

23

One after another the Little Crabs took their turn to go up and see if
the storm had abated. But each time they came tumbling down until
the last tiny Crab made its little effort to go out and see. And lo and
behold, he was able to get right on top of the stone, the great Rock,
his Grandmother, and look out on the beautiful calm of the sea. And
so he came back and told his Granny that it was a beautiful, calm day.
And so all the Little Crabs came up on top of Grandma's head, and
looked on the waters, and they saw the dry particles of sand floating
on the surface of the water. And they were happy that a beautiful day
had come. So they would mock the sound of the wave. They would
say:

Oowoom, oowoom, oowoom!
That's all/ 7

Chinook Jargon Songs

The barrier created by the great diversity of languages and dia-
lects on the Northwest Coast was obviated by the development of a
lingua franca, the Chinook jargon. This intertribal language, com-
posed of Nootka, Chinook, English, and French, served both the trader
and the missionary in their dealings and communications with the
natives. In 1878 a little pamphlet entitled Hymns in the Chinook Jar-
gon was printed. It proved to be very useful to its author and compiler,
the Rev. Myron Eells, and his associates in their missionary endeavors.
In his book, Ten Years Missionary Work at Skokomish, Eells writes:
"The first efforts were to translate some of our simpler hymns into the
Chinook language, but this we found to be impracticable, with one or
two exceptions. The expressions, syllables, words, and accent did not
agree well enough for it; so we made up some simple sentiment, re-
peated it two or three times, fitted it to one of our tunes, and sang it/'
Among the tunes employed by Eells are "John Brown," "Jesus Loves
Me," "Hebrew Children/ 7 "A. B. C," "Bounding Billows," and "I'm
Going Home." Many of these spiritual folk songs originated in New
England and were passed on by oral tradition and printed songsters
during the "Great Awakening," that revivalistic movement of the
eighteenth and early nineteenth century which swept through the
Southern States and into the new settlements of Kentucky and the
West. There they served the religious needs of a pioneer population
for three quarters of a century before being introduced to the Indians
of the Northwest. In Hymns in the Chinook Jargon (Second Edition Re-
vised and Enlarged, Portland, Oregon, 1889) Eells gives the following
texts to the two songs which Henry Allen sings on the record (A-4),

1. Kwanesum Jesus hyas skookum Always Jesus is very strong,

Kahkwa yaka papeh wawa, So His paper (the Bible) says,

24

Delate nawitka,

Kahkwa yaka papeh wawa.

2. Jesus tolo kopa chuck,
etc.

3. Jesus tolo kopa wind,
etc.

4. Jesus tolo kopa mes chie,
etc.

5. Jesus tolo kopa Lejaub,
etc.

6. Jesus tolo kopa mimoluse,
etc.

Truly so,

So His paper says.
Jesus conquered the water,
etc.

Jesus conquered the wind,
etc.

Jesus conquered the wickedness,
etc.

Jesus conquered the Devil,
etc.

Jesus conquered death,
etc.

1. Ahnkuttie nika tikegh whiskey,
Ahnkuttie nika tikegh whiskey,
Ahnkuttie nika tikegh whiskey,
Pe alta nika mash.

Alta nika mash,

Alta nika mash,

Ahnkuttie nika tikegh whiskey,

Ahnkuttie nika tikegh whiskey,

Ahnkuttie nika tikegh whiskey,

Pe alta nika mash.

2. Whiskey hias cultus,
etc.

3. Whiskey mimoluse tillikums,
etc.

4. Cultus klaska muckamuck,

etc.

Formerly I loved whiskey,

Formerly I loved whiskey,

Formerly I loved whiskey,

But now I throw it away.

Now I throw it away,

Now I throw it away,

Formerly I loved whiskey,

Formerly I loved whiskey,

Formerly 1 loved whiskey,

But now I throw it away.

Whiskey is good for nothing,

etc.

Whiskey kills people,

etc.

They that drink it, drink what

is worthless,

etc.

It will be noted that Henry Allen sings only the first verse of the
song, and the first and third verses of the second song. He was unable
to recall the other verse. The tune of the first song "Jesus Loves Me/ 7
is widely known thoughout the world as the result of Christian mission-
ary activities. Folklorists will recognize the tune of the second song as
that of the old "Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre", a tune that has been
sung to "Pig in the Parlor," "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow," and
countless other texts. Henry Allen, the singer, was intimately associ-
ated in his boyhood with the Rev. Myron Eel Is and his missionary as-
sociates. These songs Were recorded near Union, Washington, Sep-
tember 2, 1950.

25

Shaker Minister before the Altar about "to receive the message.

26

Shaker Church Songs

The Shaker Church songs, with their haunting melodic beauty
and hypnotic, compelling rhythm, constitute the essential core of this
religious cult, for it is in these sacred dance songs that the religion
achieves its fullest and most exalted expression. Rhythmic and me-
lodic fragments of gospel hymns of evangelical sects have been elabo-
rated according to native principles and techniques of melodic devel-
opment into a song type so homogeneous and distinct in style that it
can be readily recognized.

The group of four songs (A-5), sung by Tommy Bob, Mrs. Tom-
my Bob, Mrs. Amelia Billie, and Mrs. Amelia Dan, were recorded in
the Bob home in La Conner, Washington, August 21, 1950. Mr. Bob
classified these songs as "work songs' 7 for the healing of the sick.
Shakers make a distinction between "work songs/' which involve
dancing about the patient being worked over, and "prayer songs"
used for devotional purposes. Before the recording of the Shaker
songs, Tommy Bob, a licensed preacher of the Shaker Church, offered
the following prayer:

"Almighty God, at this time we look up to you, Lord Saviour, Je-
sus Christ. Lord, accept this prayer recording by our white brother,
who has come to know our ways of living our Christian life. Jesus,
according to your Word, that You wanted me to work for You and
stand up for You, when You brought me back from my death-bed, Je-
sus, and You spoke in my heart, and You showed me all things to
share with You in truth only. Now at this time, Jesus Christ, bless the
brother in this home. My humble prayer to him that these things re-
corded that some other people may understand our ways and how to
carry on our religion. When one of the Indian race died, before he
died he told his brothers not to be buried until after the fourth day.
He came back after the fourth day and preached the Word of God. He
came back with a spiritual gift, the healing power of God, to sqye the
lost, to heal the sick. At this time, my Lord, Jesus Christ, in my hum-
ble prayer at this time, Jesus, accept my prayer that this thing may
come true, that this record may travel to far brothers that don't know
You, Lord, Jesus Christ, and for them to know our ways that our In-
dian race here in the Swinomish Tribe, I will sing this song that was
given to one of our members. They didn't know God, they didn't
know Jesus. And Jesus wanted to know whether we are traveling in
the right path. So Lord, accept this prayer."

Rev. Bob's prayer, spoken in English, was accompanied by a
counterpoint of similar prayers, freely improvised in the native lan-
guage, by Mrs, Bob, Mrs. Billie, and Mrs, Dan, The songs presented

27

here are prefaced with an exclamation, He, Massa Je, he, Massee. At
the end of the recording session the following prayer was made by
Rev. Bob:

"At this closing of our song and prayer, where well all pray and
thank the Lord for accepting this here recording, His wonderful gift
that was given to the poor Indian race, that didn't know God. But God
give us understanding by delivering this wonderful spiritual gift into
our heart, that we might save someone out in the world, that we
might save the one that's sick. So at this time, Sisters, we will now pray
for the closing of this here recording, the wonderful gift of God.
qwaxs nak man ' In the name of the Father,

se to man The Son,

santu splee And the Holy Ghost.

Almighty God, at the closing of our recording, Your wonderful words,
and we pray look up to you again, my Lord, Jesus Christ, Oh, Lord,
You're so merciful and You're so kind, that the way was open for my

white brother to come into this humble home " (The

balance of this closing prayer was not recorded because the reel of
tape ran out.)

Many of the musical features of the guardian spirit songs have
been transferred to the Shaker Church songs. The emotional involv-
ment and absorption in the singing of Shaker songs is comparable to
the spirit possession described by Tommy Bob after the recording of
the Skagit Guardian Spirit Song (A-1). One singer and informant,
when asked to sing only one Shaker song at a time, countered that
she was unable to do this and explained that she had to sing the songs
as they came to her. In the second song of this group one encounters
another instance of heterophonic singing like that observed in the
Skagit Guardian Spirit Song (A-1). The vocal technique and manner
of singing, common to these two categories of songs, includes rela-
tively clear intonation, also noted by Helen Roberts in her study of
sixteen Snohomish melodies, a refined, expressive vibrato, the em-
ployment pf the diminuendo at the close of a song, and the deep,
heavy audible inhalations, which punctuate the phrases. To what ex-
tent these features are representative of the musical style of the area
can be determined only after further studies have been made.

The sense of ownership, so dominant in Northwest culture, is
operative with the Shaker music just as it is with the guardian sp'irit
songs. Certain songs are regarded as the exclusive property of certain
individuals and are sung only when the* owners are present to start
them. Like power songs, the Shaker songs are individually "received"
by spiritual revelation in dreams. When questioned about her Shaker
prayer song (B-l), Mrs. Lyda Butler Hottowe explained: "I dreamed it.
I dreamed it. And there was a woman that apparently was in good

28

health, and I dreamed one night that I was on the top of an extreme
high cliff. And it seemed to be miles down to the bottom, and she was
just hanging on with her finger tips. And I knew something miracu-
lous had to be done to save her from falling, so I started singing this
song in my dream. And that's the only song I've ever received while
I was in the Shaker Church. That is the only prayer song I received/ 7
The song is sung several times in the native language, then repeated
in English translation, a fairly common practice with Shaker songs.
The words of Mrs. Hottowe's song follow:

Jesus, Savior, daukwachi Jesus, Saviour, help me

Jesus, Savior, daukwachi Jesus, Saviour, help me

Jesus, Savior, daukwachi Jesus, Saviour, help me

Ai, hai, hai ya Ai r hai, hai ya

The extent to which acculturation has taken place is manifest in
the ease with which old culture patterns have been modernized and
adapted to the teachings and practices of Christianity. There is little
or no conflict between the beliefs of the old guardian spirit cult and
those of the more modern Shaker religion. For the average Indian
they are complementary. It is significant that both the Skagit Guard-
ian Spirit Song (A-l) and the Shaker Church Songs (A-5) were re-
corded the same evening by Rev. Tommy Bob and his neighbors.

In a summary description of the musical style of Shaker songs,
based on an analysis of twenty-nine melodies, one may note: (1) the
large tonal range of these melodies, (2) the tendency for the songs to
begin on the octave above the tonic and to end on the tonic, (3) the
more or less equitable distribution between upward and downward
movement in the initial interval and the occasional use of repeated
tones at the beginning of songs. (4) A "pendulum" melodic movement
is common to the majority of the songs. (5) In a third of the songs the
melodies follow the "broken triad" pattern. With regard to rhythmic
organization there is: (6) a preponderance of 4/4 meter and a consist-
ent adherence to it throughout the song, (7) a tendency for melodies
to start on a strong down beat, and (8) little use of syncopation. (9)
The tempo of the songs averages between sixty and seventy quarter
notes to the minute and is gradually increased to about one hundred
and twenty five beats to the minute. (10) Introductions and codas are
infrequent. (11) The Shaker songs are organized into clear-cut struc-
tural forms composed of four, three, or two phrases, with a preference
for the three phrase pattern. (12) Pentatonic scales furnish the tonal
material for seventeen of the twenty nine melodies. Of these seven-
teen melodies, twelve are based on the fourth pentatonic scale (C, D,
E, G, A, C). (13) An accompaniment of bells played in a regular pulse
of eighth notes and simply coordinated with the rhythm of the voice

29

replaces the more traditional accompaniment of drums and rigid per-
cussion instruments. (14) The Shaker vocable, hai, so consistently
used, is a diagnostic feature of the style. (15) The vocal techniques
and distinct singing style, though not exclusive with the Shaker songs,
are nonetheless identifying features of this music. (16) Occasional ex-
amples of heterophony, so rare in North American Indian music, are
to be observed in the Shaker songs.

Love Songs

Songs in this category are distinguished by their lyricism and the
intimacy of thought and emotion they express. The words rarely con-
sist of more than a simple statement that is broken into two or three
short phrases and repeated over and over. But to the singer and the
person to whom the song is addressed there is an inner meaning not
apparent in the words themselves. The circumstances and situation
attending the making of the song, the emotional relationship between
the singer and the subject, memories and associations shed an aura
of warmth and feeling on the love songs. The Clallam Love Song (B-2)
sung by George Hottowe and his sister, Mrs. Nellie Wilkie, was re-
corded at Neah Bay, Washington, August 29, 1950. It is based on a
descending pentatonic series of tones, B flat, A flat, F, E flat, D flat,
B flat, A flat, and is in triple meter. The words follow:
he yai ya na He yai ya na

he yaf ya na He yai ya ria

chau yai ye ya ye ing sukwa You have gone so far away

chau yai ye ya ye ing sukwa You have gone so far away

chau yai ye ing sukwa You have gone so far away

ching su ya ye ing su hai ya On a long journey

chau ya ye ing sukwa You have gone so far away

ha na na Ha na na

i ya ya na na I ya ya na na

he i ya ya na, a na na He i ya ya na, a na na

he ya ya na. He ya ya na.

The Quinault Love Song (B-4), sung by Mrs. Hannah Bowechop,
daughter of Chief William Mason of Taholah, was recorded at Neah
Bay, Washington, August 29, 1950. It is based on a four tone scale,
F sharp, E, D, B, and is in a compound triple meter, the measures of
irregular length. In the middle of the song the singer raises the pitch
thereby making the song end one half-tone higher than the original
tonality. A comparison of the text as dictated by the singer with that
as sung on the record will give some suggestion of the variation and
liberty singers often introduce in their singing. The text as dicated by
Mrs. Bowechop follows:

30

ai yat skiyutan tins yai ying watam ha

ai yat skiyutan tins yai ying watam ha

as li wachi ya klan axt hans

at hans has sakl kiyutan

at hans has sakl kiyutan.

On my horse I journey to see my loved one

On my horse I journey to see my loved one

Deliver me to my loved one

On the bad horse

On the bad horse.
Quinault Lullaby

Indian babies were often sung to sleep with lullabies such as this
charming one which Mrs. Hannah Bowechop learned from her Moth-
er. Today these songs are rare, for modern mothers seem less inclined
to sing to their babies than the mothers and grandmothers of the past.
The collecting of these songs is made difficult by the fact that many
of the lullabies were little more than a freely improvised crooning,
changing from day to day. Only when the lullaby crystallized into a
clearly defined song form through repetition could it be passed on
from one generation to the next. The song employs a descending pen-
tatonic series of tones, D, C, A, G, F, C, with F serving as the tonic. It
is in duple meter and is marked by a syncopated rhythmic motive. The
song was recorded at Neah Bay, Washington, August 29, 1950. The
text follows:

o tish ka he no ai yo my little darling, ai yo

tish ka he no ai yo My little darling, ai yo

o tish he no ai yo my little darling, ai yo

tish ka he no ai yo My little darling, ai yo

ha a o o. Ha a o o.

osh kishyam au Go to sleep now

tish ka he no ai yo My little darling, ai yo

o tish he no ai yo my little darling, ai yo

tish ka he no ai yo My little darling, ai yo

o tish he no ai yo my little^ darling, ai yo

ha a o. Ha a o.

Tsaiyak Society Songs

According to Frances Densmore, who witnessed a dance of the
Tsaiyak Society at Neah Bay, Washington, August 26, 1926, "The
songs were in pairs, the first being with a very rapid beating on the
planks, after which the accompaniment changed to a measured beat
on the drum The dancing continued during both styles of ac-
companiment." The two Tsaiyak Society Songs (B-5), presented
here as sung by George Hottowe and his mother, Mrs. Lyda Butler

31

Hottowe, appear in an order reverse to that described by Densmore.
The songs were "received" by Mr. Tom Butler, Mrs. Hottowe's father,
who was half Clallam and half white. Mrs. Hottowe believes that her
father's grandmother was a member of the Tsaiyak Society. The songs
were recorded at Neah Bay, Washington, August 29, 1950.

The triadic patterning of the two songs give them a genetic
relationship that is fairly obvious. The first song, in triple meter and
slow tempo, employs only three tones, A, F sharp, D. The second
song, in duple meter and a rapid, excited tempo, employs four tones,
A, G, E flat, C. The trailing, descending glissando at the end of the
song is characteristic of Tsaiyak Society songs. In the second song
appears the word, skaiyaxkasin, which is the name of the power re-
ceived by the owner of the song. Mrs. Hottowe sang with closed eyes
and in a frenetic, inspired state. The emotional excitement of her
singing, the brilliant and beautiful tone color of her voice, the genu-
ineness and sincerity of her performance are all captured on the rec-
ord and may be enjoyed by those who listen with imagination, sym-
pathy, and sensitivity.

32

Makah Bone Game Songs

Much of the tension and social excitement that surrounds the
Bone Games emanates from the songs which accompany them. Sung
by the group of players that hides the bones, and accompanied by
drum and the striking of sticks on a long plank before the players (See
photograph on page 35) the songs rise in the course of the game to
frenzied heights. This social activity engages not only the players but
the onlookers as well in a hypnotic spell in which music plays a sig-
nificant role. The songs are short and are repeated over and over until
the guessing side has guessed the position of the bones. One is im-
mediately impressed with the infectious rhythm of these songs and
the great variety of rhythmic and melodic ideas which characterize
them. The bone game was diffused throughout the Northwest Coast
and served as a means of cultural and social exchange between tribes.
The older people at Neah Bay stated that some of the bone game
songs now sung there were brought back from Alaska years ago by,
local Indians who had visited there and played with their hosts. The
tribal proximity and fluidity of movement on the Northwest Coast
with the resultant cultural exchange make it very difficult to establish
tribal musical styles. f

The four songs in this group (B-6), led by George Hottowe,
were recorded at Neah Bay, Washington, August 29, 1950. Regard-
ing the third song of the group, Mrs. Nellie Wilkie remarked that it is

Quileute Gambling Bones
33

"from our relatives and we have a right to sing it. And that's why I
favor it." Most of the songs are without words, but the second song
introduces the following Chinook jargon words:

hilo maika nanich hi ya You won't see them, o ho!

hilo maika nanich hi ya You won't see them, o ho!

yawa naika siahai hi ya There are my bones, o ho!

yawa maika tsipi alta There you miss them now!

ya !i la a ha li la Ya li la a ha li la,

ya li la a ha li la Ya li la a ha li la.

The drum is silenced during the singing of these words so that
their taunting meaning may be clearly understood by the guessing
side. In the fourth song one notes a simple harmonization which rep-
resents a consciously modern and sophisticated version of the song.
Inasmuch as the technique of drone-or heterophonic singing has been
noted in the Guardian Spirit songs and Shaker Church songs of this
record, and was also observed by Densmore at Neah Bay in the 1920s,
one cannot discount the influence of this traditional though relatively
rare practice. The first song is based on a descending pentatonic
series of tones, B, A, F sharp, E, D, B, with B serving as organizing
center. The second and fourth songs employ B, A, F sharp, E, D, with
D as tonic. The third song is based on A, G, sharp, G natural, F, D,
with D as tonic. The songs are all in duple meter.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adamson, Thelma. Folktales of the Coast Salish. New York. Memoirs of the Ameri-
can Folklore Society, Vol. 27. 1934.

Boas, Franz, Chinook Texts. Washington, D. C. Bureau of American Ethnology,
Bulletin 20. 1894.

Curtis, Edward S. The North American Indian. New York. Vol. 9, Salishan Tribes of
the Coast.

Densmore, Frances. Nootka and Quileute Music. Washington, D. C. Bureau of
American Ethnology, Bulletin 124. 1939.

Music of the Indians of British Columbia. Washington, D. C. Bureau of

American Ethnology, Bulletin 136. 1943.

Eells, Myron. Ten Years Missionary Work at Skokomish. Boston. 1886.

Gunther, Erna. Klallam Folk Tales. Seattle. University of Washington Publications
in Anthropology, Vol. 1, No. 4. 1925.

Klallam Ethnography. Seattle. University of Washington Publications in An-
thropology, Vol. 1, No. 5. 1927.

"The Shaker Religion of the Northwest/ 7 in Indians of the Urban North-
west, Ed. by Marian W. Smith. New York. 1940.

Haeberlin, Hermann K. and Erna Gunther. The Indians of Puget Sound. Seattle,
University of Washington Publications in Anthropology. Vol. 4. 1930.

Herzog, George. "Musical Styles in North America/' in Proceedings of the 23rd In-
ternational Congress of Americanists. 1930.

"Special Song Types in North American Indian Music/' Zeitschrift fur

Vergleichende Musikwissenschaft, Vol. 3. 1935.

"Salish Music" in Indians of the Urban Northwest, Ed. by Marian W.

Smith. New York. 1949.

Rhodes, Willard. "Acculturation in North American Indian Music," in Proceedings
and Selected Papers 29th International Congress of Americanists, Accultur-
ation in the Americas. Chicago. 1952,

"North American Indian Music" A Bibliographical Survey of Anthropo-
logical Theory, in Notes, December 1952.

^Roberts, Helen H. Musical Areas in North America. New Haven. Yale University
Publications in Anthropology, Vol. 12, 1936.

and Hermann K, Haeberlin. "Some Songs of the Puget Sound Salish/''

Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 31, pp. 496-520, 1918.

Stern, Bernhard J. The Lummi Indians of Northwest Washington. New York. 1934.

Smith, Marian W. The Puyallup Nisqually. New York. Columbia University Con-
tributions to Anthropology, Vol. 32. 1940.

"The Coast Salish of Puget Sound," American Anthropologist, Vol. 43, pp.

197-211. 1941.

Editor. Indians of the Urban Northwest. New York, Columbia Universitv

Contributions to Anthropology, Vol. 36. 1949.

Swan, James G. The Indians of Cape Flattery. Washington, D. C. Smithsonian
Contributions to Knowledge, Vol. 16. 1870.

Underhill, Ruth. Indians of the Pacific Northwest. Washington, D. C.

Branch of Education of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Indian Life and Cus-
toms, No. 5. 1944.

Waterman, J. J. "The Shaker Religion of Puget Sound," Washington, D. C. Smith-
sonian Institution Annual Report for 1922, pp. 499-507. 1924.

35

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In the recording of the music of this record and the preparation of this booklet
of notes I have received friendly help and suggestions from many persons. To name
them all individually would be difficult if not impossible. I take this opportunity to
acknowledge their valuable assistance and to thank them once again for their con-
tributions. To Dr. Willard W. Beatty, former Chief of the Branch of Education of

the Bureau of Indian Affairs, I am deeply indebted for having conceived this 'project
and incorporated it into his educational program. His successor, Mrs. Hildegard
Thompson, and assistant Chief, Mr. P. W. Ddnielson,< have been most helpful in its 4
completion. In the Library of Congress I have received invaluable help from Dr.
Harold Spivacke, Chief of the Music Division, Dr. Duncan Emrich, Chief of the Folk-
lore Section, Mrs. Rae Korson, Reference Librarian, and the staff of the Recording
Laboratory. Dr. Erna Gunther, Dr. Melville Jacobs and Dr. William Elemndorf, of the
Department of Anthropology of the University of Washington, were more than gener-
ous in introducing me to singers and sharing with me their highly specialized knowl-
edge of Indian cultures of western Washington. Without their help my task would
have been more difficult. The photostat reproduction of the Captain Cook manu-
script, used by kind permission of the British Museum, was supplied by Dr. Gunther,
who designed the lay-out of this booklet. For any errors that may have found their
way into these notes I accept full responsibility.

And to the singers, without whose friendly cooperation this project could never
have been realized, I express my sincere appreciation and thanks for permission to in-
clude their songs in this series of records.

Willard Rhodes

Photograph Credits

Juel E. Lange, Photographer of the documentary film, The Quillayute Story.
Along the Coast of Western Washington
Shaker Minister about to "receive the message"
Bone Game

The Seattle Times:

Tommy Bob with Assistants holding Skwadelitch Boards

Ceremony with the Skwadelitch Boards at the Smoke House near La

Conner, Washington; Treaty Day, January 22, 1 946

Washington State Museum:

Makah Grouse Rattle
Makah Tsaiyak Headdress
Quileute Gambling Bones

36

MUSIC OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN

Recorded and Edited by
Witlard Rhodes

L34 Northwest (Puget Sound)

L35 Kiowa

L36 Indian Songs of Today

Sung by Indian Children or Youth

L37 Delaware, Choctaw, Creek, Cherokee

138 Great Basin: Paiute, Washo, Ute, Bannock, Shosnone

U9 Plains: Comaache, Cheyenne, Kiova, Caddo, Wichita, Pawnee

L40 Sioux '; ';;'.' , .,';'''. ' '',;'._; '"x; '"../ ;'.\;, '.'"'' ';:'3

L41 Narajo ;,';'',':' ''.,.'' ' ".';'' "':' ''^" : --. >,

"'" . . ',' - . . "' .' : . ,:. '-. .,. A' 1 ,
L43 Puebb: Taos, San lldefonso, Zuni, Hopi

116041